US1004724A - Wire-stretcher. - Google Patents

Description

J. 0. BARCLAY. WIRE STRETGHEB.

Patented 0015.3,1911.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 4, 1909.

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JOHN C. BARCLAY, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

WIRE-STRETCHER.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1911.

Application filed December 4, 1909. Serial No. 531,366.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. BARCLAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful ire-Stretcher; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to wire tighteners, and particularly to that class thereof employed primarily or customarily, in connection with the guy wires of telegraph poles and the like, for taking up slack; and my present invention involves improvements on the device for the same purpose illustrated and described in U. S. Patent No. 940,424 dated November 16, 1909.

My invention consists in the novel construction of the frame of the device, in the novel location and relative arrangement of the teeth whereby backward rotation of the spindle is prevented, in the novel construction of one end of the spindle whereby the tension on the wire tends to hold these teeth locked, in the novel means provided for guiding the wire to the spindle, in the novel means provided for preventing unintentional slacking of the wire, and generally in features of construction and arrangement of the parts.

The objects of my invention are to pro vide a simple, compact, and relatively inexpensive device of the character described, to provide simple and effective means for guiding the wire to the spindle, to prevent accidental backward slip of the wire, to facilitate the attachment of the loop of an anchor cable or the like to the device, and to avoid injury to the locking teeth of the device.

I will now proceed to describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, and will then point out the novel features in claims.

In said drawings: Figure 1 shows a front view and partial section of one embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 shows a side View and partial section'of the said device; and Fig. v3 is an illustrative view, on a smaller scale, showing the device as in use, in connection with an anchor cable.

My improved wire stretcher comprises a frame, of general U-shape, comprising side members 1 and 2, which, in this improved construction, are not connected, except as the ring or loop of the anchor cable itself forms a connection, but are provided, at the base of the U, with over-lapping ends hav- 1ng curved extremities 3 between which is a space 4 adapted to receive the ring or loop of the anchor cable; such ring or loop, when in place in such space 4, in itself forming a pivot for these two members of the frame. Frame member 2 is provided, at its other end, with an extension 5 in which is a guide aperture 6 for the passage of the wire or cable 7 to be wound upon the spindle of the device, and frame member 1 is provided wit-h a similar extension 8 having a similar but wider guide aperture 9 for the passage of said wire or cable 7. 10 designates the spindle upon which such wire or cable 7 is to be wound, the end of such wire or cable 7 being customarily passed through "an aperture 11 in the spindle so that said wire or cable may be secured to the spindle.

The frame member 1 is provided with a bearing orifice within which fits the journal 12 of the spindle (said journal indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1) and outside of this ournal the spindle is provided with a polygonal-shaped head 13 adapted to be engaged by a suitable wrench. The frame member '2 1s provided with an aperture 14 having a beveled or cam surface 15, on that side of the aperture toward which the spindle presses under the influence of the pull on the wire or cable 7, and the corresponding end of the spindle 10 is provided with a conical head 16 adapted to coact with this cam surface 15 to produce a normal tendency for the locking teeth of the frame and spindle to remain in engagement. As clearly shown 1n Fig. 1, the aperture 14 in frame member 2 is somewhat larger than the greatest diameter of this conical head 16, so providing for the necessary movement of said head as well as for the introduction of said head into the said aperture, when assembling the parts of the device.

In this device, the locking teeth of the frame are provided on the inner side of the frame, and, consequently, the locking teeth frame, formed on the frame member 2, and

numerals 18 designate the corresponding teeth of the spindle.

Customarily this device will be shipped unassembled to the point of use, and there assembled, which is'easily done by placing the frame members 1 and 2 in proper relative positions, and passing the ends of the spindle through the apertures in said frame members. The lower ends of the frame members being unconnected, it is easy to separate them to introduce between them the eye or loop of the anchor cable, and when such eye or loop is in place in the space at, and tension is brought upon the anchor cable, the latter forms a very eflicient pivot for these frame members. The prime purpose of leaving the frame members disconnected at their lower ends, as shown, is to facilitate the introduction of the eye or loop of the anchor cable, as described, former devices for the same purpose having proved inconvenient in this particular.

When winding up the wire or cable 7 upon the spindle 10, the frame members 1 and 2 separate somewhat and then draw together again, as the teeth of the spindle pass the teeth of the frame, the two frame members pivoting upon the loop of the anchor cable at the base of the frame. To permit this motion without sharply bending the wire or cable 7, a considerable space is provided between the guide extensions 5 and 8 of the frame members 2 and 1 respectively. To permit the necessary lateral motion of the wire with respect to the spindle, as it is wound upon the spindle, the guide aperture 9 is made of considerable width laterally.

It is found convenient and desirable to provide some clamping device for positively preventing unwinding of the wire 7 once the latter has been placed under proper ten sion. To this end I have provided a sliding clamp consisting of a base 19 having guiding ears 20, and a clamping ring 21 having a threaded stem 22 adapted to project through a suitable aperture in the base 19 and then to have screwed upon it a suitable nut 23. This anti-slip clamp is fitted to the wire 7 after the latter has been placed under the desired tension, the screw ring 20 having: been placed upon the wire before the end of the latter was passed through the aperture 11, in spindle 10 and the base 19 of this clamping device is pressed up against the extension 8 of frame member 1 and the nut 23 turned until the wire is clamped tightly between the ring 21 and the base plate 19; it being possible to turn up the nut- 23 so tightly as to bend the wire considerably between the said ring on the one hand and the ends of the base plate on the other hand. This device holds the Wire exceedingly tightly and so prevents any backward slipping thereof through the wire tightening device. If at any time it is desired to slack the wire 7, it is of course a simple matter to loosen the frictional clamp and, similarly, to disenteeth.

gage the teeth of the spindle 10 from the frame member 2.

At opposite sides the spindle is provided with shoulders of which one is numbered 2% while the other is the shoulder in which the teeth 18 are provided. These two shoulders prevent accidental gripping of the wire between the spindle and the frame. They also prevent the sides 1 and 2 from approaching too closely together.

What I claim is 1. A stretching or tightening device, comprising a frame consisting of a plurality of side members, adapted for operative con nection to each other at one end and free at the other end, but adapted to be limited in lateral separation at such other end, the free end of one said member provided with a guide for the wire or the like to be prising a frame consisting of a plurality of side members, adapted for operative connection to each other at one end and free at the other end, but adapted to be limited in lateral separation at such other end, the free ends of said members provided with guides for the wire or the like to be tightened, said guides spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction, a spindle mounted in bearing in said frame, and means for locking said spindle against backward rotation, comprising face ratchet teeth carried by the spindle and other 00- acting ratchet teeth facing said spindle ratchet teeth and carried by one of said frame members, whereby as the spindle rotates in the direction for winding up the wire the said frame member is moved back and forth with respect to said spindle by the cam action of the engaging ratchet 3. A stretching o-r tightening device, comprising a frame consisting of a plurality of side members, which are relatively overlapped at one end and are adapted to receive the loop or ring of a cable or the like between them to operatively connect them at that end, the other ends of said frame members being disconnected, the free ends of said members provided with guides for the Wire or the liketo be tightened, said guides spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction, and a spindle .mounted in a bearing in said frame, said spindle and one of said frame members having interlocking ratchet teeth.

4. A stretching or tightening device, comprising a frame consisting of a plurality of side members, which are relatively overlapped at one end and are adapted to receive the loop or ring of a cable or the like between themto operatively connect them at that end, the other ends of said frame members being disconnected, the free ends of said members provided with guides for the wire or the like to be tightened, said guides spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction, and a spindle mounted in a bearing in said frame, said spindle and one of said frame members having interlocking ratchet teeth, the teeth of said frame member located on the inner side of said member.

5. A stretching or tightening device, comprising a frame consisting of a plurality of side members, which are relatively overlapped at one end and are adapted to re ceive the loop or ring of a cable or the like between them to ope'ratively connect them at that end, the other ends of said frame members being disconnected, the free ends of said members provided with guides for the wire or the like to be tightened, said guides spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction, a spindle mounted in a bearing in said frame, said spindle and one of said frame members having interlocking ratchet teeth, the teeth of said frame member located on the inner side of said member, said spindle having also a limiting collar coacting with the other frame member.

6. The combination, with a wire stretching or tightening device comprising a frame, and a rotary member on which the wire or the like may be wound, said frame having a portion in proximity to the path of the Wire or the like to be tightened, of an anti-slip clamp adapted to be mounted on the wire or the like to be tightened, and to engage said shoulder to prevent backward slipping of the wire or the like comprising a base, a clamping member adapted to grip the wire or the like between itself and said base, and means for drawing said clamping member toward said base:

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN G. BARCLAY.

Witnesses F. KrrrEN, H. Pn'rnm.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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